Two weeks ago, I posted about my disappointment of setting up a meeting with several 20-something young men, and then nobody showed up. I said I’d give it another week.

Well, last week three guys showed up. Dan, Allen, and RJ. We sat around a table in the sanctuary (our sanctuary seating includes four large round tables, and people flock to them), and I walked them through the bridge illustration. I just wanted to determine where they were in their understanding of the Gospel and their personal experience with Christ. I wrote out some questions for them to respond to before we started chatting, things like: “I consider myself a Christian,” “I think I’ll go to heaven when I die,” “It’s possible to know for certain that you’re going to heaven,” and a couple more. Each question had four possible responses: Yes, No, I Think So, I’m Not Sure.

I tell you, it was a lot of fun. They all drew out the bridge, and then we moved on to the three Campus Crusade circles (with Christ on the throne, with Christ at the foot of the throne, and with Christ not even in the circle). I find those very helpful in picturing the three types of lives.

We talked about sin and forgiveness and Christ’s death and eternal separation and “accepting Christ as Savior.” I did a lot of probing, and by the end of the hour, I felt confident that all three were, indeed, Christians. So I guess I’m not gonna get any notches in my belt.

This past Monday night, Dan and RJ showed up. I had typed out about eight subjects on a sheet of paper, and we informally discussed four of them–The Church, the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and Witnessing. I am very comfortable leading a free-flowing, unstructured discussion, and that’s what is required with these guys. I learned a great deal about them, things that surprised me. And they want to keep the discussion going next week.

So, disappointment turned into great reward for me.